Team Rocket's Ambition has been live in Pokémon TCG Pocket since Thursday, August 27, 2026, at 01:00 UTC. This 110-card themed booster puts Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres ex under Giovanni's orders and opens a month of missions, emblems and shady tickets that runs until September 29. Here is the full rundown, card by card and date by date.
The key art for Team Rocket's Ambition, themed booster B4a of Pokémon TCG Pocket (French version). © The Pokémon Company / Pokémon TCG Pocket.
When did Team Rocket's Ambition come out, and how many cards does it have?
The expansion went live on August 27, 2026, at 01:00 UTC, which is 6 p.m. PDT on August 26 and 3 a.m. in Paris, on iOS and Android, inside a free app. It has 110 cards: 72 in the main set and 38 secret cards. There is a single themed booster, numbered B4a, instead of the three packs of a full expansion.
So this is a small set, in line with the game's other themed boosters. For comparison, Ruler of the Skies, released on July 30, lined up 233 cards behind Mega Rayquaza ex. The pace stays brisk: Everyday Wonders on June 29, Ruler of the Skies on July 30, Team Rocket on August 27. Three releases in two months, and the app's home screen has turned red for the occasion, with three packs to choose from: Everyday Wonders, Team Rocket's Ambition and Ruler of the Skies.
The real novelty lies elsewhere. For the first time in Pocket, Pokémon carry their owner's name: Team Rocket's Articuno, Team Rocket's Mewtwo, Team Rocket's Persian. These are Owner's Pokémon, a mechanic already seen on paper cards with Destined Rivals, the May 2025 expansion. The "Team Rocket's" part is a piece of the card name, and several of the set's missions look at nothing else. By Gamewave's count, 56 cards in the expansion carry it, secret rarities included.
The B4a themed booster, the expansion's only pack (French artwork). © The Pokémon Company / Pokémon TCG Pocket.
What do Team Rocket's Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres ex, the headline cards, actually do?
The three legendary birds of Kanto are the stars, all as Basic ex cards, so playable from turn one, with 120 to 130 HP. Each hits hard for three Energy, with a side effect on a Bench, yours or your opponent's. In exchange, the ex rule applies: a Knock Out gives the opponent 2 points.
The three legendary birds in their Team Rocket versions (French cards), Moltres as a Full Art. © The Pokémon Company / Pokémon TCG Pocket.
| Card | HP | Main attack | Effect | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Rocket's Articuno ex (Water) | 130 | Hailstorm, 130 damage for Water, Water, Colorless | Also does 20 damage to each of your own Benched Pokémon | Metal |
| Team Rocket's Zapdos ex (Lightning) | 120 | Thunderclaw, 90 damage for Lightning, Lightning, Colorless | Also does 50 damage to one of your opponent's Benched Pokémon that already has damage on it | Fighting |
| Team Rocket's Moltres ex (Fire) | 130 | Netherwing, 130 damage for Fire, Fire, Fire, Colorless | Discards a Fire Energy; the Heat Charged ability attaches up to 3 Energy on 3 coin flips | Water |
Articuno is the most brutal of the three, but it clips its own wings: 20 damage to each of your Benched Pokémon with every Hailstorm, which wears down your own backup plan. Zapdos is the most consistent, with a Retreat Cost of a single Energy and a 90-damage attack that finishes off a Benched Pokémon already dented. Moltres depends on its coins: three heads and it attacks on turn two, three tails and it stays grounded.
All three carry the legendary label, not the mythical one: if the distinction is fuzzy, the difference between mythical and legendary Pokémon is explained with the full list.
Why does Team Rocket's Mewtwo hurt itself?
Team Rocket's Mewtwo is a Basic Psychic card with 100 HP, three-diamond rarity, and a single attack: Psychic Explosion, 130 damage for three Psychic Energy, plus 70 damage the Pokémon deals to itself. One use, and it has 30 HP left. It is a sacrifice card, built to snatch a Knock Out on an opposing ex before going down.
Lapras, Houndour, Tinkaton, Arbok, Persian and Mewtwo, all "Team Rocket's" (French cards). © The Pokémon Company / Pokémon TCG Pocket.
The math is simple: 130 damage is enough to Knock Out Team Rocket's Articuno ex or Moltres ex (130 HP) in one hit, and Mewtwo, a non-ex card, only gives the opponent one point when it falls. On paper, the physical version is a different beast: Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex, in Destined Rivals, shows 280 HP and an attack that starts at 160 damage. Pocket has deliberately scaled it down, but the idea of the lab-made Pokémon pushed past its limits is the same. For the story of that laboratory clone, our Mewtwo profile goes back to Mew and Cinnabar Island.
Around it, two Stage 1 cards deserve a deck slot. Team Rocket's Persian (100 HP) hits for 10 damage plus 40 for each of your opponent's Benched Pokémon, which climbs to 130 against a full Bench. Team Rocket's Arbok (100 HP) does 70 damage plus 10 for each Energy in the opposing Active Pokémon's Retreat Cost, so 100 against a heavy Pokémon like Slowking.
Which Team Rocket Trainer cards change the way you play?
Team Rocket's Boss is the most talked-about Supporter of the set: it looks at your opponent's hand and puts as many Basic Pokémon from it as you like onto their Bench. That is not a gift: a full Bench feeds Team Rocket's Persian (+40 per Benched Pokémon) and gives Zapdos targets.
Team Rocket's Boss, here as a two-star Full Art illustrated by Atsushi Furusawa (French card). © The Pokémon Company / Pokémon TCG Pocket.
The other Trainer cards follow the same logic of sabotage rather than raw damage:
- Team Rocket's Master Plan (Supporter): your opponent's Active Pokémon becomes Confused; on tails, yours does too. It is also the set's only Immersive card.
- Team Rocket's Thieving Machine (Item): puts a random Item card from your opponent's discard pile into your hand, except another Thieving Machine.
- Team Rocket's Goo-zooka (Item): until the end of your opponent's next turn, their Active Pokémon's Retreat Cost is 1 more. It also exists as a Gold rare.
- Team Rocket's Researcher (Supporter): flip a coin until you get tails; for each heads, a random Pokémon with "Team Rocket" in its name moves from your deck to your hand.
- Arcade (Stadium): once during each player's turn, that player may flip three coins; three heads, and they draw until they have seven cards in hand.
Master Plan (Supporter) and Thieving Machine (Item), two of the set's Trainer cards, in their French versions. © The Pokémon Company / Pokémon TCG Pocket.
French site New Game Plus sums the expansion up as "mechanics built around disruption and control", and that is exactly it: none of these cards hits, all of them make life harder across the table.
Slowking, Weezing, Raticate, Tinkaton: which other cards matter?
Three more ex cards round out the set, all Stage 1, with an ability that triggers on evolution or from the Active Spot. Team Rocket's Slowking ex is the one players are watching: Game Rant expects it "to have a big impact over the coming weeks".
| Card | HP | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Team Rocket's Slowking ex (Psychic, Stage 1) | 130 | Evil Inspiration: once per turn, in the Active Spot, draw a card. Attack: 20 damage for each card in your hand. |
| Team Rocket's Weezing ex (Darkness, Stage 1) | 140 | Boiler Smog, on evolution: the opposing Active Pokémon is Poisoned and Burned. Confusion Gas: 60 damage and Confusion for two Darkness Energy. |
| Team Rocket's Raticate ex (Colorless, Stage 1) | 120 | Thieving Incisors, on evolution: moves a random Energy from the opposing Active Pokémon to itself. Boost Dash: 70 damage for two Energy, free retreat. |
| Team Rocket's Tinkaton (Metal, Stage 2) | 140 | Pile-Driving Hammer, 80 damage: next turn, the Defending Pokémon's attacks cost 2 more Energy, and so does its retreat. |
| Team Rocket's Lapras (Water, Basic) | 90 | Ruthless Whirlpool, 40 damage, +40 if Lapras has more Energy attached than the opposing Active Pokémon. September's B series vol. 12 promo card. |
| Team Rocket's Houndour (Fire, Basic) | 60 | 20 damage for one Energy. Part of a secret mission. |
Team Rocket's Lapras, Houndour and Tinkaton (French cards): the three cards of the secret mission about searching for legendary Pokémon. © The Pokémon Company / Pokémon TCG Pocket.
Tinkaton is the card I keep coming back to. 80 damage is nothing special, but a Pokémon whose attacks cost two more Energy for a turn is a Pokémon that does nothing. Against an opponent sitting on three Energy, that is a full turn gained. And its Illustration Rare version, with two grunts overwhelmed by their own Pokémon in a flowered clearing, is one of the prettiest cards in the series.
What are the expansion's 38 secret cards?
The 38 secret cards are almost all variants of Team Rocket cards. The breakdown, compiled by Gamewave: 6 Illustration Rares (Delphox, Team Rocket's Hypno, Tinkaton and Kecleon, Happiny, Lechonk), 9 Full Arts including 6 Pokémon and 3 Trainers, 6 Alternate Rares, 1 Immersive (Master Plan), 10 one-star shiny cards, 4 two-star shinies and 2 Gold rares.
The six Full Arts and six Alternate Rares cover the same six ex: Team Rocket's Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Slowking, Weezing and Raticate. The four two-star shinies step outside the theme: Mega Charizard Y ex, Toxtricity ex, Mimikyu ex and Mega Mawile ex. The two Gold rares are Gholdengo and Team Rocket's Goo-zooka. To place those tiers against each other, our guide to Pokémon card rarity levels covers the paper game; Pocket adds diamonds, stars, shiny sparkles and a crown, but the logic is the same.
What is the event schedule through September 29?
The expansion comes with four in-game events and one out-of-game challenge, spread from August 28 to September 29. The times below are in UTC, converted from the Paris schedule compiled by Nintendo-Difference from The Pokémon Company's announcement (Paris is UTC+2).
| Event | Dates (UTC) | What you earn |
|---|---|---|
| Team Rocket special missions | Aug 28, 06:00 → Sept 29, 05:59 | Team Rocket's shady tickets, Shinedust, hourglasses |
| Team Rocket's Ambition Emblem Event | Aug 28, 06:00 → Sept 10, 05:59 | Emblems based on wins, Shinedust |
| Boss and Persian covers and backdrops | From Sept 1, 06:00 (Aug 31 evening in the Americas) | Cosmetics for your binder and cards |
| Team Rocket's Lapras solo battles | Sept 10, 06:00 → Sept 20, 05:59 | B series vol. 12 promo packs |
| Fennekin and Meowstic wonder pick | Sept 19, 06:00 → Sept 29, 05:59 | Two promo cards |
| The Great Puzzle Challenge at tr.pokemontcgpocket.com | Aug 27 → Sept 30 | A code for 24 pack hourglasses |
Wonder hourglass, shady ticket and pack hourglass: the special mission rewards. © The Pokémon Company / Pokémon TCG Pocket.
The special missions are the main course. Gamewave counts 18 of them, doable "in barely a week": log in seven days in a row, play battles, use wonder pick. The announced total is 10,000 Shinedust, 48 trade hourglasses, 48 wonder hourglasses, 48 pack hourglasses, which is four packs, and 10 shady tickets. The shady tickets trade for black cosmetics stamped with the red R, in a shop that is only open during the event. After September 29, unspent tickets are worthless: that is what the announcement means by "try to find where they can be used in-game during the availability period".
The Boss and Persian cover, available from September 1 (UTC). © The Pokémon Company / Pokémon TCG Pocket.
How do you complete the secret missions of Team Rocket's Ambition?
Secret missions only show up in the app once you have met them. The set has few, but they are precise: two Museum missions, six small missions of two, three or four cards, and the full-set mission. Here are the cards required, according to Gamewave's list.
- Team Rocket's Ambition Museum 1: the six Illustration Rares (Delphox, Team Rocket's Hypno, Tinkaton and Kecleon, Happiny, Lechonk).
- Team Rocket's Ambition Museum 2: the six Team Rocket ex as Alternate Rares (Moltres, Articuno, Zapdos, Slowking, Weezing, Raticate). The museums pay 12 pack hourglasses, 36 wonder hourglasses and 10 shop tickets.
- The Boss and his partner: Team Rocket's Persian and Team Rocket's Boss.
- A mountain of coins: Gimmighoul, Gholdengo and Arcade.
- Long-nosed Pokémon: Team Rocket's Drowzee, Cufant and Copperajah.
- New recruits for Team Rocket: Team Rocket's Hypno, Mr. Mime and Meowth.
- Infiltrate the lab: Team Rocket's Ekans, Muk, Tinkatuff and Kecleon as an Illustration Rare.
- Searching for legendary Pokémon: Team Rocket's Lapras, Houndour and Tinkaton as an Illustration Rare.
Each small mission pays 12 wonder hourglasses and 2 shop tickets. Collecting all 72 main-set cards unlocks a Boss icon and a red-R emblem, and 40 different cards are enough for a binder cover. Three more emblems reward stubborn collectors: 20 copies of Team Rocket's Master Plan, 42 Team Rocket Item cards, and the complete run of 56 "Team Rocket's" cards, for the Giovanni emblem.
How do you get 24 pack hourglasses from the Great Puzzle Challenge?
From August 27 to September 30, 2026, a dedicated website, tr.pokemontcgpocket.com, hosts a series of puzzles sorted by level: two Poké Ball, three Great Ball, one Ultra Ball, plus two hidden Master Ball puzzles for those who solve everything. At the end, a code to enter in the app, valid until November 30, 2026.
The site advertises 2 pack hourglasses; according to Game8 and Pokébip, who finished the run, the code actually gives 24. I am not posting the answers here, they are everywhere already and the game is worth the half hour it asks for: the puzzles lean on the expansion's cards, and it is a good way to look at them closely.
What happened at Paris Saint-Lazare station on August 22 and 23?
Before launch, The Pokémon Company staged a field operation in Paris: on August 22 and 23, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Team Rocket "grunts" took over the forecourt of Saint-Lazare station and ran a free investigation game, no sign-up needed. Each solved riddle gave a clue, the clues formed a code, and the code opened a secret spot where the Boss had left a message.
Participants left with an honorary Team Rocket membership certificate, a tote bag and a code for 24 pack hourglasses, according to French outlet Journal du Geek. London got the same "secret mission", per PocketMonsters.net. The trailer posted by the Pokémon YouTube channel on August 20 sets the tone for the whole thing.
Watch the Team Rocket's Ambition trailer on the Pokémon YouTube channel
Should you spend your hourglasses on Team Rocket's Ambition?
Yes if you collect, sparingly if you play ranked. The main set is only 72 cards and a single pack: with the two free packs a day, the hourglasses from the special missions and the puzzle code, you get close to the full set in a month without spending a cent. The binder cover drops at 40 cards, the Boss emblem at 72.
The red home screen, the B4a pack and Team Rocket's Kecleon in the app. Screenshots by Gamewave. © The Pokémon Company / Pokémon TCG Pocket.
On the battle side, the set brings control cards more than a new dominant deck: Boss, Tinkaton, Slowking ex and Persian will find room in existing decks, but none of them replaces Mega Rayquaza ex or the Mega Evolutions of Ruler of the Skies. My advice: open Team Rocket every day until September 10, for the length of the Emblem Event, then go back to Ruler of the Skies if your ranked deck needs it. Wonder hourglasses stay useful on both.
And for those who prefer paper cards, Team Rocket is there too: Destined Rivals is still on shelves, and the next big expansion, Delta Reign, arrives on November 6.
How does Pokémon TCG Pocket work if you have not played it yet?
Pokémon TCG Pocket is a free app on iOS and Android, launched on October 30, 2024, that turns the Pokémon card game into short matches with 20-card decks. You open two free packs a day thanks to hourglasses, complete missions, trade cards with friends and battle other players online. Gamewave notes that the app has passed 100 million downloads. Nothing forces you to buy: everything described in this article can be done without spending, provided you put in a little time each day.
Sources: pokemon.com (August 20 announcement and August 26 release page, FR, US and DE versions), Nintendo-Difference, Gamewave (feature, secret missions, emblems, special event), New Game Plus, Journal du Geek, Bulbapedia, Limitless TCG (card text), Game8, Pokébip, PokéBeach, Game Rant, PocketMonsters.net. Visuals: cards and artwork released by The Pokémon Company on pokemon.com and in the trailer, app screenshots by Gamewave, thumbnail from the Pokémon YouTube channel. © 2026 Pokémon / Nintendo / Creatures / GAME FREAK
